Conventional footwear includes several parts, such as an upper, a midsole and an outsole, that are attached together by stitching, adhesives or other attachment methods for creating different styles and sizes of footwear. Typically, the uppers are each made by attaching different material components together where the components may include different colors, different patterns and have different performance characteristics. For example, footwear uppers are commonly made by attaching a vamp, opposing left and right side pieces, i.e., quarter pieces, and a heel counter together. These different and various shaped piece parts are laid out and cut from one or more pieces of leather or other material. Although an attempt is made to utilize as much of the material as possible, inevitably, there is a significant amount of waste. Also, the laying out and cutting process is labor intensive.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method of manufacturing footwear that improves manufacturing efficiency and reduces material waste.